37g...and then the 60g cube

I set up a simple 37g for 1 pair of seahorses. I planned to keep it simple with a BH-90 HOB skimmer and a fluval canister filter. (yes I do weekly maint. on it) The tanks is set up and cycled with 10 lb LR and 20lbs live sand. I added feather caulerpa, zoanthids, GSP, Clove polyps, mushrooms, and ricordia. Added a few micro hermits, 4 large Mexican turbos, and 10 astrea snails. I acclimated 3 FW mollies to SW and they have been in the tank for 2 weeks. I ordered the reef octopus BH-90 skimmer today at 11 am. This tank is in my office on a metal stand so there was no room for a sump. I was waiting to add seahorses because I wanted to add 20lbs of branch rock but it is out of stock till Mid February. I was thinking it would be a few months for the new rock to cycle and the tank to be safe for the seahorses.

You would think after 10 years of keeping seahorses (took a 2 yr break) I would learn....NOPE

Fast Forward to 8PM tonight. I just "happen" to be skimming Craigslist for fishy stuff.. and I found a 60g RR rimless cube. 24x24x24 at a great price. Paypal sent and I pick it up Saturday

Now I'm not sure what to do. I "could" order the pair of seahorses now and add them to the 37g as it sits now.Then while I am training them to the feeding station in the smaller tank, I can be working on the 65g Cube.

I will need to build a custom stand, because I now need to fit a decent sump under it. Premade Cube stands lack sump space. By custom building one I can increase the room for a larger sump. Since I can not get the branch rock till Mid February...I have plenty of time. I will now need twice the rock, but I can get twice the seahorses ha ha ha . The seahorses can stay in the 37g until the 60g cube and the new live rock and sand cycle. Once everything is transferred over to the 60g...I will use the 37g for one of the grow out tanks. Babies can't stay in the tubs forever.

So much for my 1 small and simple 37g 1 pair of SH tank plans. I should have know I can never go small, and 1 pair is never enough.

Where there is a will there is a way. I put the deductible on one of my credit cards. I try very very hard not to carry a balance on my credit cards. I have them for emergencies....I guess this was an emergency.

I am back to picking the tank up on Saturday. I purchased the stand today. I will be reinforcing it since I do not trust prefab stands. Once I get the tank home I will cut out the holes needed for the Overflow pipes. Bulkheads are on order, baffles for the sump will be cut next week, and the return pump is on order as well. The Reef Octopus classic 90 (BH-90) skimmer will be here tomorrow.

I have a large cleanup crew on order since the 65g reef needed replenished as well.

Since I can not get the rock for 2 weeks I will just work on getting everything set up until then. I may order the seahorses next week since they will be going in the 37g until they are trained to a feeding station anyways. This way it is easier to keep a close watch on them while they settle in and they can grow a bit before going into the bigger 60g tank. I figure by the time the 60g cycles and is ready, the seahorses will be too

ohhh BRS got the Tonga Branch rock in early. I ordered 40 lbs tonight. The skimmer is currently on the 37g, clean up crew is ordered, I leave at 8am in the morning to go pick up the tank, and I finished the stand today. The only thing I need yet are the actual seahorses. I will call Dan and Abby Monday to see what they have available. I really wanted a pair of Hybrids, but raising Erectus fry is soooo much easier.

I have a T5 light for the tank, but I am considering another LED. I love the aqua mars LED on my reef tank. WAY over kill on the seahorse tank, but I like the shimmer of LEDs. No shimmer with T5s unless I add LED strips to it.

The seahorses are here! I wish we could post pics here. I got the Over Flows in and drilled some holes thru the wall. The sump will be located on the other side of the wall the tank is against in my bathroom closet. Easier access then under the stand, and my office will be quieter this way. I also have room in that closet for the chiller when the temps get high enough to need it. I keep my house cooler at 68-70 and the tank has yet to go over 72F. I have a fan that blows across the top of the water so that helps as well.

Sump is done, just waiting for the silicone to cure. I am out of town from 5am Saturday till about 7 pm sunday, so I have someone coming to feed them for me. Then I should be able to finish the plumbing and start working on the rock work. I ordered the branch rock from BRS and I have to Epoxy the branches together so I can have some that are 22" tall. I had to purchase a masonry drill bit to insert acrylic rods into the branches to hold it while the epoxy hardens. So much to do before I can get the 60g cube wet! Slow but fun!

I ordered 2.5 lbs of Mysis from Jehmco and a 500g flat pack of smaller Mysis. I am set on Mysis for about a year, depending on how soon I have fry. The male arrived looking a little plump in the pouch...we will see

They are settling in great now, It was a rough couple of days for the male. He has a small prolapse of the pouch. We are not sure if it happened during shipping or if it happened before they were shipped. Dan and Abbie have been great about it. He did not seem to eat for the first 4 days, but maybe he was snacking on the amphipods in the tank? He was getting very thin and I was worried about him! He ate quite a bit today though. (Hikari Mysis) I think it was a combination of shipping stress, his first pregnancy, and a new tank. The female figured out the feeding station in 2 days! She eats like a pig. I have been target feeding him, along with broadcast feeding. I do put a small amount of Mysis in the feeding dish just so the female continues to look there for food.

Since I do not know when they did the egg transfer it is just a waiting game. For all I know he could be faking it, but he hasn't emptied / flushed the pouch at all since they arrived Thursday so I'm thinking he's got actual fry in there. Probably not many...I hope. Plus he hides all of the time. Seems to be protecting that pouch... I will not be trying to raise this batch. I have not gotten the fry tanks setup yet.

I just finished plumbing the 60g cube, I was 2 elbows short so I have to pick them up tomorrow. Everything is dry fit, I just need to glue and leak test. Sunday I plan to Epoxy the branch rock together and let it cure. My Samoa pink sand is on back order, so I am still waiting for that. I do have everything else though.

I am able to keep the tank at 68F with just a fan blowing across the top of the tank so I am not hooking up a chiller yet.

My daughter and grandson moved in with me 2 days ago, so my spare bedroom is being used by them. That WAS my fry room. I need to figure out where to put the fry tanks now ;(

O my, it sounds like you have your hands full. I am glad that the male finally began to eat for you. That can be very stressful.

The 60 cube sounds like its coming along nicely. They will love that when its cycled and ready.

Is your daughter and grandson moving in a permanent arrangement? Our kids can have it tough these days. My son and daughter in law moved in with us for a year. Its feast or famine with my kids. All 3 boys and their families now live in 3 different states and not PA where my hubby and I live, ha ha! I am with my oldest son and family now since they just had a baby girl. My first granddaughter! I am enjoying helping although I miss my hubby and my ponies. He's taking good care of them though.

Congrats on the new granddaughter! Enjoy her. They grow way too fast. Lucky for me both of my daughters have never been more then an hour or 2 away. My oldest is just here until she finds an apt and a job. Things did not work out with the baby daddy, so she needed her mama and a chance to regroup and take some shelter from the storm. It took her 2 days to find a job, and she is now looking for daycare. There is an apt opening in the building I live in at the end of the month...hopefully they will hold it for her It's actually directly down stairs from me lol. Would be perfect because I could just give her my internet password and she could use my wifi, and maybe I can run my cable down to her apt...that would save her some $$. AND...Grandma is right up stairs for any emergencies!

That would be perfect if she could move directly downstairs from you. It would probably ease your mind knowing she would not make a fuss just in case you had a little mishap with water overflowing too. Bite my tongue, as I am sure that will never happen! I run an overflow box and I only had it happen once. Since I only had a 10 gallon sump, only about 2-3 gallons overflowed and it was when my son lived with us so we caught it right away.

You are right, grandchildren seem to grow faster than our kids did, ha ha! I plan to enjoy every second.

Ok....I'm finally DONE setting up the 60g Cube. Fully plumbed, including the 1/4 HP chiller that arrived today. Now I just get to sit back and wait, and wait, and wait some more. Not in a hurry because the seahorses are small yet.

I decided to go with the T5 lighting. I wanted LEDs but I have noticed my zoanthids get better growth from T5s then they do with LEDs. If I decide later that I can't live with the T5s I will get the Leds. Macros and the light will be here within a week.

I also bought a 1/15th HP chiller for the fry tanks. With summer coming I just want to be ready. Since $$$ seems to be flying out of my bank acct, I figured why not order it now lol.

Seahorses are great, I cleaned the Fluval canister today so it's good for another 2 weeks. I received a box of frags today that are growing out in the 37g. They will go in the Cube when it is ready. I also bought a few frags for the Reef tank.

Personally, I would never let a canister filter go more than a week before cleanout.Two weeks time means trapped detritus and uneaten foods are already decaying and producing conditions more favorable to nasty bacterial expansion.